Isle Army Corps team joins Sandy relief
The Army Corps of Engineers sent a team from Hawaii to the U.S. Northeast to aid in recovery efforts after Superstorm Sandy.
The corps says 15 members left Monday. The team includes logistics, management and contracting specialists.
The corps says it has been on hand since the storm struck in late October, helping federal, state and local officials with such things as contracting and oversight of debris removal, dewatering, infrastructure assessments, and providing bottled water and emergency power.
After his rescue, seafarer headed to Japan
A mariner whose 60-foot-long sailing vessel was dismasted southwest of Hawaii is safely on his way to Japan, the Coast Guard reported.
James Blackford wasrescued by the crew of the motor vessel Global Explorer. Blackford, in good condition, will be taken to the ship’s next port of call.
His vessel, the Makalii, en route from Maui to Tonga, was left adrift, the Coast Guard said.
The Makalii was 85 miles northwest of Palmyra on Sunday when it lost its mast and issued a distress signal. The Coast Guard launched a HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Barbers Point and located the boat at about 2:30 a.m. Monday.
Diverted to the scene, the Global Explorer crewwas able to bring Blackford aboard at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
High cost spurs residents to nix sewage project
Residents of two Kapoho subdivisions on Hawaii island have rejected a centralized sewage plan as too expensive.
Cost estimates ranged from $2.85 million to nearly $8 million. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that Dora Beck, acting director of Hawaii County’s environmental management, says once residents learned of those amounts they showed little interest in the project.
Many homes in the area remain on cesspools despite being adjacent to the Wai Opae tide pools and Champagne Pond. New cesspools have been banned since sewage was found seeping from lava tubes in the 1980s, and the Department of Health regularly tests water in the swimming areas.
Accused killer’s trial postponed until April 1
The trial of a Honomu man accused of stabbing a housemate to death has been delayed until next year.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara granted a defense request to postpone trial for 49-year-old Daniel Schuster, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports. A new trial date of April 1 was set on Nov. 29.
Schuster has been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Joshua Trickel, 30, found dead at Schuster’s Pua Street home on July 22. Schuster is also charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Hara denied a request for supervised release or reduced bail for Schuster, who remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $104,000 bail.
